Corn Gazpacho Shooters

This is a delicious summer soup that was part of our Appetizer class in August 2021! Serve this in your favorite cocktail glasses and your friends and family will think you spent all day cooking! The truth is that there is very little to cook, a quick blend will make a perfect soup that is a little bit sweet from the corn and spicy from the peppers! I know you will love it!

Ingredients:

8 ears of corn, shucked OR 2 – 16oz. bags organic frozen corn OR ½ & ½

1 yellow onion, rough chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1 cup baby spinach leaves

3 jalapenos, 2 stemmed and roughly chopped, 1 stemmed, seeded and finely chopped

1 lime, juiced

3 cups filtered water

½ ripe avocado, diced

Olive oil

Kosher Salt & pepper

Directions:

1.   If using fresh corn, begin by cutting the corn kernels from the cob. It is best to do this into a large bowl. After removing kernels from the cob, be sure to run your knife down the cob to also remove any remaining “corn milk”. This will only add to the flavor of your soup.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once warm, add the onions and a sprinkling of kosher salt, and cook, stirring occasionally until starting to become translucent, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, stirring for about 30 seconds more, until fragrant.

3.   Add all the corn MINUS about 1 1/2 cups. Set this 1 ½ cups aside for later. Sauté corn with onions and garlic for about 3-5 minutes, just until heated through if frozen or crisp-tender if fresh.  Transfer to a blender.

4.   Add 1 ½ cups cold filtered water to the blender along with the corn mixture and puree until completely smooth. Strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve set over a large bowl, pressing until all the liquid is in the bowl, leaving only the solids. Discard the solids.

5.   Return the corn puree to the blender and add spinach, rough chopped jalapenos and 1 Tbsp. lime juice. Puree until you have a smooth green soup. Transfer to a large bowl, stir in the other 1 ½ cups water (or as needed to make the soup the consistency that you like). Taste, add salt/pepper as needed. Cover and refrigerate until cold. Ideally, at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

6.   Meanwhile, reheat your skillet. Add another Tbsp. of avocado oil and the remaining 1 ½ cups of corn kernels, fresh or frozen. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, just about 1-2 minutes. Remove to a bowl and allow to cool. Add finely chopped jalapeno, diced avocado and a tsp. of lime juice. Stir it all together, season with salt/pepper as needed and refrigerate until ready to serve.

7.   When ready to serve, pour soup into small cocktail glasses and top with corn mixture. Serve as is, to drink right out of the cup or with a spoon.